Expansible field stove



P. M. FORSTER 2,211,924

EXPANS IBLE FIELD STOVE Filed Oct. 10, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l F .1. J q d (i Fi 5 6' INVENTOR. 7 5776) M FORS 7E? ATTORNEY.

Aug. 20, 1940. P. M. FORSTER EXPANSIBLE FIELD STOVE Filed Oct. 10, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Pz/x /Z foesrzn ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug; 20, 1940 2 ()lairns.

My invention relates to field stoves and particularly to an expansible form of stove which may be readily knocked down for ease in transportation.

A number of large stove designs have been developed for portable use. These designs find their usual application in connection with army troops, forestry service operations, construction crews, and in other situations in which it is necessary that a considerable body of men be fed by food cooked on stoves which must be limited in size so as to be easily transported, and arranged for rapid knocking down and setting up. In rough country it is often necessary that the stove units be carried on pack animals, and for this reason the separate units must be small and light, but they must be strong enough to stand rough handling. Preferably they should be arranged to burn concentrated or liquid fuel.

It is thus an object of my invention to provide a portable form of stove which may be quickly and easily set up or knocked down. It is a further object to provide a portable stove which is ruggedly constructed and yet light in weight.

Another object of my invention is to provide a stove having a large heating capacity which may be operated on fuel contained in pressure tanks. A further object is to provide a stove formed in small separable units which may be expanded to any desired degree. Still a further object is to provide such a stove in a form which may be quickly and easily manufactured of readily available materials without the necessity for expensive machine work.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of a preferred form of my invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the specification. It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the showing made by the drawings and description as I may adapt a variation of the preferred form Within the scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

.In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a two-unit stove;

Figure 2 is a detailed view of the means for connecting and alining the separate stove units.

Figure 3 is a schematic fragmentary sectional view of the top portion of my stove, looking in the direction of the arrows in the plane indicated by the line 33 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary View of the stove sections expanded to permit the addition of a third burner unit;

Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the third burner unit, taken on line 5-5 of Fig- Figure 6 is a view showing the top unit and leg-carrying compartment of the stove taken on line 65 of Figure 3; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary section taken on line The detailed construction of my stove may be better understood by referring to the drawings, in Figure 1 of which I have shown two stove units, generally designated by numerals l and 2, which aresupported on removable legs 4, and 15 are held in alinement by bars 5 slidably held in brackets 5 on the front and rear sides of the stove units. Brackets 6 are fastened to a rectangular top frame [which may be formed conveniently of angle bars. removably set an open grill consisting of parallel iron bars 9 and cross bars H], which are welded at their points of intersection into a unit. A convenient size for bars 9 and I0 is 12" by 12" stock. I fix Vertical angle bars H and I8 to the 25v rear and front corners respectively, of rectangular frame I, and form the lower ends I2 of bars I l and H) to receive legs 4. The legs are held in position by set screws I3 threaded through the ends 12, or by any other convenient means, 30

. ease in packing. To each of the front leg supporting members I8, I attach a clamp I9 which serves to hold a main fuel feed pipe 20 extending across the front of the stove behind the guard 45 ll. At appropriate intervals feed pipe 20 is broken by T-sections 2|, to which are attached control valves 22 leading to each of the burner heads 24. In my usual stove design I make the burner heads 24 and intake pipes 25 in such a 50 form as to evenly distribute the burners throughout the stove top. Between the main fuel supply pipes 20 of each stove section I provide a flexible pipe connection 21, and connect to one end of the pipe 20 a pipe 29 which leads through 55 2-? of Figure 6. 10"

Across top frame I is 20 a pressure reducing valve 30 to a supply pipe 3|, which may attach to a pressure fuel tank, not shown. The tank may be of the conventional form used to retain fuel under high pressure. For this fuel supply I may use any of the wellknown and commonly available tanked or piped gaseous fuels. Each of the burner supply pipes 25 is provided with an air inlet 32 which regulates the combustion of the fuel gas at the burner head 24. The burner heads and air inlets may be changed or adjusted as necessary to secure the most complete combustion of the particular fuel used.

As explained above, bars 5 are made slidable in brackets 6 to allow units I and 2 to be spread apart, Figure 4 showing an additional top unit 33 in place between them. I have discovered that I can locate brackets 6 (see Figure 2) most conveniently adjacent the front and rear parts of rectangular frame 1, so that the angle bars formingthat frame partially cover the bars 5 which are slidable through the brackets.

The third unit 33 is generally similar in construction to units l and 2. It may be allowed to rest on bars 5 for support, although additional legs could be inserted in leg-receiving angles H and I8 if desired. I may prefer to replace the angle iron forming the front portion of the frame I by a channel iron section 35. This allows the unit to be lowered into position more easily as may be seen from the sectional view of Figure 5, the channel iron acting as a hinge about bar 5. The main fuel pipe 20 is connected in series with the main fuel pipes 26 of units l and 2 by flexible pipe connections 27. I provide short flanges 36 extending over the outermost of bars 9 and normal to the outermost of bars it], which are to act as positioning means in case it is desired to place a solid plate, not shown, over unit 33 for cooking hot cakes, frying eggs, and similar operations. If it is desired to use such a plate, lugs should preferably be provided thereon to engage flanges 36.

Screw caps 3'! are threaded onto the ends of bars 5, and are of diameter sufficient to prevent the bars from sliding out or their brackets unless unscrewed. When it is desired to disassemble the device for moving, these caps 3'! are taken off and the units separated. The legs are removedand are carried in a leg compartment 34 which is formed under unit 2. Since the legs are, in my preferred construction, longer than the stove unit, the leg compartment is allowed to project beneath the adjacent unit as shown in Figures 3, 4, and 6. A hinged door 39 equipped with a locking latch 40 closes the leg compartment during travel. Figure 7 shows in section how the compartment is joined to the rear vertical angle l I.

Further steps in taking down the assembly for transportation include disconnecting the flexible fuel pipe links 21, removing the guards H and the feed pipes 20, and the burner heads 24. These elements may be packed as desired, and the whole assembly can be contained within a very small compass.

It will be seen that the welded open construction permits an extremely rigid and durable structure without excessive weight, requiring a minimum of carrying space. It can be used with one to three units in operation at a time, in accordance with the number of men to be fed. The construction is so simple that servicing is held to a minimum, and it can be made with a minimum number of operations requiring skilled workmen and much equipment.

The form of the elements shown may be varied to suit difi'erent conditions of service, and I do not wish to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts or the exact structural embodiments shown, as all of the parts may be modified and yet fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1. Means for removably and separably connecting a pair of stove top units, comprising sleeves fixed to the front and back of said stove units,

bars slidably positioned within said sleeves, detachable ends on said bars arranged to prevent removal of said bars from said sleeves, said bars being arranged to receive and support an additional stove top unit when said pair of units is separated to the full extent.

2. In combination with two stove top units, a plmality of sleeves fixed to the front and back of said units, parallel rods extending slidably through said sleeves in front and in back of said units, means to prevent said rods from coming out of said sleeves, and means for permitting removal of said rods therefrom at will.

PERCY M, FORS'I'ER. 

